Protective covering for luggage carriers



H. P. DANIELSEN ETYALQ May 26, 1936.

PROTECTIVE COVERING FOR LUGGAGE CARRIERS Filed Jan. 18, 1935 m a k Q INVENTORS fld na E BY MG j G ATTORNEY Patented May 26, 1936 U N .l '5 ED S T;

PAT'NT OF PROTECTIVE COVERING FOR LUGGAGE CARRIERS Application January 18, 1935, Serial 'No. 2,340

5 Claims.

The present invention relates in general to improvements in protective coverings for luggage carriers, and relates more specifically to improvements in the construction of durable and attractive protective covering materials for luggage, the material being susceptible of receiving decorations or coloring.

Generally defined, an object of the invention is to provide a simple but durable and highly attractive outer covering material for luggage.

It has heretofore been the practice to cover the outer wall portions of the better class of luggage carriers with leather, tabriko'id, or canvas. The first two classes of covering materials do not readily receive coloring and decorating material, such as might be used for delineating stripes and designs on the surfaces. Canvas has been successfully striped and decorated, but the use of canvas for luggage coverings does not appeal to all classes of the purchasing public; and canvas has certain limitations in its use on luggage.

t is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a luggage covering material susceptible of general usage and formed of leather, raw hide, or other suitable, relatively tenacious material which can be colored or decorated in a very eifective manner so as to result in its having a natural, parchment-like appearance.

Raw hide has heretofore been utilized for luggage carrier coverings, and due to the fact that it is, under certain conditions, rather semitranslucent, dull coloring material to form a backing has in some instances been applied to one surface of the raw hide to overcome the translucency. It has, however, "been impossible to decoratively color the raw hide surfaces and to work out striping and design effects thereon due to the rough character of the raw hide surfaces and to the fact that it distorts locally, preventing the attainment of sharp outlines and regular lines of demarcation in the application of surface coloring material.

The present invention has as a further object the elimination of the aforementioned difiiculties by providing a covering material of raw hide or other similar material colored in areas of attractive designs with sharp, well-delineated outlines and in a manner so that the rich, attractive, external appearance resulting from the use of raw hide or the like is greatly enhanced.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide a covering material for luggage carriers which can be fabricated, decorated, and applied to a piece of luggage very conveniently and expeditiously, and which is relatively inexpensive.

(Cl. IL-22),

These and other objects and advantages of the invei-itio-n will be apparent from the following detailed-description.

A clear conception of one embodiment of the invention and of the mode of producing and utilizing luggage carrier coverings manufactured inaccordance therewith may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts in the various views.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a suitcase covered externally with the improved protective covering material;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail View of a veneer wall portion of the suitcase and the covering material thereon, a portion of the covering material being folded over to show the inner surface thereof; and

Fig; his a magnified and distorted detail sec tional view, taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

While the invention has been shown and described herein as being applied to raw hide, it not intended torestrict the scope by such speciii embodiment, and some of the novel featnres may obviously be more generally applicable to other forms of leather covering materials, parchment, and tenacious fabricated materials. 'Also, while the covering material is illustrated as being applied to a suitcase, it is obvious that, within the scope of the invention, it may be used on trunks, wardrobe-cases, and other forms of luggage.

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that asu itca seis indicated generally by the numeral '5, and the walls thereof may be form-ed of suitable thin, rigid material, such as veneered ply- WOOd, as indicated at 6. The interior of the suitcase or luggage carrier may be lined in the usual-manner, and it is -'e.-'ssential, for the sake of protection to the walls 6, and appearance, to apply sheets of an outer covering material 1 to the outer surfaces of the walls 6.

To prepare the covering, suitable material, such as raw hide, for example, is selected; and the desirable portions of the hides are cut into sheets to fit the exterior areas of the walls 6. The portion of each sheet which is to be adjacent the container wall 6 is then decorated. The decoration is accomplished by stenciling or otherwise delineating on the inner surface coloring material in predetermineddesigns or stripes. Due to the fact that the sheets are tough and distort locally, it is impossible to obtain well-defined lines of demarcation between the various colored or design areas or stripes; and the boundary lines are ragged and uneven. However, regardless of this fact, the sheets, with the inner surfaces thus decorated, are applied to the container walls 6 in the usual manner. Thereafter, or prior to the application of the sheets, demarcation lines 6 are delineated directly on the outer surfaces of the sheets to mark the various colored or design areas. This is readily accomplished because the sheets are semi-translucent, and the areas of coloring material and the color thereof on the inner surface of each sheet are visible through the outer surface.

One manner of decorating a covering sheet is illustrated in the drawing. The major-portion of the inner surface of the sheet is decorated with black areas 9. Between said areas 9 there are stripes formed by an intermediate area Ill colored orange, and on each side of a stripe In, between it and the adjacent black area 9, there is a narrow stripe ll, either uncolored or natural, or of some harmonizing color. As shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3 the narrow stripes 8, which are applied directly to the outer surface of the sheet, are between the areas of distinguishing colors and serve to obliterate the unevenness in the junctions of said areas and to provide sharp lines which clearly and neatly mark the stripes or designs, which stripes or designs would appear ragged and unattractive without the exterior application of the demarcation lines. One particular form of design and coloring arrangement has been illustrated and described, but it is obvious that many other combinations, arrangements, and coloring eifects may be attained within the contemplation of the present invention. In some instances it may be desirable to have the major areas uncolored or natural and to merely apply colored stripes or designs on said natural background on the inner face of a sheet and to then apply demarcation lines on the outer surface of the sheet.

While the covering sheet is illustrated as be ing applied directly to a wall 6, in some instances it may be desirable to interpose a white sheet of paper or cardboard between the covering sheet and the wall. This will serve to counteract any eiTect the color of the wall 6 might have. When all of the covering sheets are applied to the suitcase walls, the same are carefully arranged so that the patterns and stripes match and register insofar as adjacent Walls are concerned. In its final condition, the applied covering material has an extremely rich and unusual appearance. The

desirable qualities of the leather or raw hide appearance are not in any way impaired, because the outer surfaces of the covering sheets only bear the demarcation lines 8; but due to the semi-translucency of the sheets the colored areas and stripes show through the material in a subdued manner and enhance its appearance and effect. Novel striping and decorating heretofore only obtained in canvas luggage coverings are, therefore, attainable by virtue of the present invention in leather coverings, whereby the desirable features of leather coverings are augmented by the susceptibility of the same being richly decorated. The decorating, being primarily on the inner surfaces of the material, will not be obliterated and is very enduring.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact details of construction, material, and to the precise mode of producing and applying the covering material herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A translucent, tenacious, flexible sheet covering material for luggage carriers, having segregated colored areas adjacent the inner surface of the sheet and dimly visible through the material, and lines of demarcation for the colored areas on the outer surface of the sheet and coincident with the edges of said colored areas.

2. In combination with a rigid opaque base, a translucent covering material having a leathery external appearance applied to the external surface of said base, coloring material applied to the inner surface of said covering material in segregated areas, and opaque lines of demarcation applied to the outer-surface of said material coincident with the edges of the first-mentioned colored areas, the latter being dimly visible through the material.

3. A decorated, leather-like, flexible sheet covering material for luggage carriers, comprising a sheet of tough, translucent material, stripes in distinguishing colors delineated on the inner surface of the material and visible therethrough, and fine opaque demarcation lines delineated on the outer surface of the material coincident with the edges of said stripes.

4. A raw hide covering sheet for application to an exterior wall of a piece of luggage, having colored stripes delineated on the inner surface of the sheet, the edges of said stripes being irregular, and fine demarcation lines delineated on the outer surface of thesheet to bound the stripes visible through the sheet.

5. In combination with an opaque base, a translucent, leather-like sheet applied to an external wall of the base, a colored area covering a portion of the innermost surface of said sheet, the edges of said area being irregular, and a thin stripe of similar coloring delineated on the external surface of the sheet coincident with an edge of the colored area, the latter being dimly visible through the sheet.

HANS P. DANIELSEN. JOSEPH J. KIEFER. 

